Taekwondo player Aruna loses in quarters of Paralympics; enters repechage round

India’s Aruna Tanwar lost to fourth-seeded Espinoza Carranza of Peru in the women’s taekwondo K44-49kg quarterfinals of the Paralympics but remained in the hunt for a medal by making the repechage round.

Aruna, seeded 12th, was no match for her Peruvian opponent as she lost the one-sided bout 84-21.

K44 classification is for athletes who have undergone unilateral arm amputation (or equivalent loss of function), or loss of toes which impacts the ability to lift the heel properly.

Aruna will take on Azerbaijan’s 10th seed Royala Fataliyeva in the repechage quarters later this evening.

All losing quarterfinalists from the main draw make the repechage where a player has to win three bouts to clinch the bronze medal.

Espinoza didn’t allow the Indian to settle down at all completely dominating the contest by pocketing the three rounds 26-2, 30-10, 28-9 respectively.

However, Aruna still has a chance to feature in the repechage round if Espinoza enters the final of the event later on Thursday.

Earlier in the day, Aruna stunned fifth seed Danijela Jovanovic of Serbia 29-9.